Thursday 5 January 2012

Knitted Cushion Covers


I watched lots of movies over Christmas and New Year, while working on some crafty projects... including one that's been a "work in progress" for over 25 years!


When I was a baby, my mum knitted me a blanket made from lots of little squares. She then started knitting squares for a second blanket but never finished it, and the bag of squares sat in the back of a cupboard for years.

Then when I started knitting as a hobby when I was at University, my mum gave me the squares and I picked out all the pink ones and the blue ones and stitched them together to make two cushion covers:


The rest of the squares had been sitting in a suitcase under my spare bed for several years after University. Then I found them while moving this autumn, and decided to sew a third cushion cover so I could have three lovely colourful cushions to put on the day bed in my studio.

Here's the front and back panels of the new cushion, almost ready to sew together:


I thought those colour combinations looked a bit crazy when I made the blue & pink cushions years ago, but now I think they're rather awesome and I love the idea of having a mis-matched front and back. It's funny how your tastes change over time, isn't it?

There are just a few squares leftover which will go back in the bag and in my "works in progress" box until I work out what to do with them...


... I don't know how long it's been since there was a wool section in WHSmith's but I imagine it's been quite a while!

15 comments:

nelly said...

Oh how gorgeous..I love that idea. Does your mum like it? I think that is a nice idea in general, like a crafty time capsule for your child. I might do that for my children.. just lovely.

Kandi said...

Wow that's an impressive length of WIP, I love the though of a wool section in WHSmiths. They are lovely and that bit more special due to the connection to your Mum.
Kandi x

Susannesblogg said...

Lappteknik av stickning. Supersnyggt!! En idé som jag kommer att spara och testa någon dag när jag blir sugen på att sticka. Du har många bra idé i din blog.
Kram Susanne

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Love the cushion covers, those little squares are very appealing!! And I didn't know WHS used to have a wool section!

Pyschodelic Elephants said...

ooooh they are yummy! how big are they? and is it moss stitch it might be a good way to use up my stash of bits!

Sue Hayton said...

Fab - I knitted Aran cushion covers for daughter this Xmas - not nearly so colourful. She is working on a knitted blankets of squares - 2/3rds there now
BTW Smiths wool depts must have disappeared about 25 years ago - they never really caught on.

Ana said...

They are beautiful cushion covers and I love the moss stitch (my favourite!).
I don't ever remember a wool section in WHSmiths and we had quite a big one near us when I was growing up - perhaps they were a trial thing in certain parts of the country only...?

Laura's Mum said...

Moss stitch indeed, using double knitting yarn and quite small needles. Ah, those were the days when my fingers were still nimble and my eyesight excellent. Each square was about ten stitches, so, yes, very small. Hey, naturally I love these cushion covers, I made the original blanket!!!

sewphie said...

Ahhh they are lovely and with that story bound to become a family heirloom.

M.M.E. said...

What a fun way to use something your mother made for you! They look great. Perhaps you can make a teeny tiny cover with the remaining squares. Haha.

Anonymous said...

They look great! I wonder if there's some record for duration of WIPs? And I had forgotten about WHSmith's wool department, but seeing the design on that carrier bag brings back some memories.

WendyCarole said...

Love your cushions. I don't ever remember woolshops in WHS perhaps they were trialled in certain areas?

Little Nell said...

How lovely that you are able to complete a project with pieces made by your Mum. Perhaps there’s hope for all my own unfinished projects. The worse one being a cross-stitch I started for my Dad’s 80th and is still unfinished - he’ll be 91 this year! My Mum is the knitter in my family (I crochet) and you can see how we collaborated on knitted Clangers on my blog (that was another story about finishing projects!). Look forward to seeing what you do with the other squares.

Bugs and Fishes said...

Thanks for the comments everyone :)

I really love the colourful patchwork of these cushions, although sewing in all those ends is a seemingly endless task! Using squares knitted by my mum does make them extra-special, I adore objects with family history / personal meaning like that. I'm really looking forward to seeing them every day in my studio space.

Anonymous said...

I bought Jaeger Alpaca yarn from WH Smith in Birmingham in 1981 and the cardigan is still going strong! They had a really good choice of yarns.